This week in State Parliament – 23 February 2017

In State Parliament this week, Liberal and Nationals MPs opposed legislation giving more rights to alleged offenders who claim they were mentally ill when they committed their crime. We called for the Bill to include greater recognition of the rights of victims and the importance of community safety.

We opposed legislation that would allow the government to enter into EBAs giving UFU-style powers of control to unions across Victoria’s public sector. This similar damage to that already inflicted on the CFA.

We repeated our calls for urgent bail law reforms, following revelations there were more than 18,000 breaches of bail in 2015-16. These included 764 cases of offenders going on to commit serious crimes – indictable offences – while free on bail.

We called for the public release of all documents relating to allegations that Labor’s Speaker in the Legislative Assembly rorted his Parliamentary allowances. The Speaker has been claiming a second residence allowance for a house in Queenscliff while his electorate is in Melbourne’s western suburbs.

We demanded answers from the Treasurer over his misleading of Parliament and his role in deciding to locate a new youth jail in his electorate just metres from existing homes, despite it being prohibited under the planning scheme for the area.

We opposed a move to establish a so-called “safe” injecting facility for drug takers, which would send the wrong message that it can be “safe” to take deadly drugs like ice or heroin.

We also continued to call for the government reverse its forestry closures that are putting hundreds of timber industry jobs at risk across country Victoria.